PRINCE Andrew is due to fly back to Britain today to prepare for a face-to-face summit with the Queen over how to deal with claims he had sex with a trafficked teenager.

The Duke of York was in Verbier in Switzerland on a ski trip when the scandal broke.

But he is expected back at Windsor today to prepare his fightback over his links with US paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

Royal sources have told the Sunday Express the 54-year-old Prince will meet senior Palace courtiers and legal advisers in the coming days before he travels to Sandringham to brief the Queen on developments.

“The Queen is very fond of Andrew and will not chastise him, but she will expect to see him soon to hear his views,’’ said a royal source.

“A very clear denial has already been issued and Prince Andrew will be meeting senior courtiers to work out a strategy of dealing with this in the coming weeks.”

Prince Andrew has been accused of having sex with a 17-year-old in London, New York and on Epstein’s private island in the Virgin Islands, according to court papers filed in the US.

He may take advice on what he should do if he is asked to testify in a US court about the allegations.

Although he lost his position as an official trade envoy in 2011 because of his links to Epstein, he has quietly carried out 67 engagements in 11 foreign countries, many in the Middle East, in recent months.

The Queen will want to know if he feels he can continue in the unofficial role this year as the scandal gathers pace, but will make clear to him that he has strong support.

Last night the Right Honourable Margaret Rhodes, the Queen’s cousin, said the claims were “complete rubbish” and added that “of course” the Duke of York would be supported by the Royal Family.

Yesterday it was revealed that Prince Andrew has now been accused of helping Epstein win a plea bargain with US justice officials.

REX

Prince Andrew may face the prospect of being asked to give evidence in a US court

The claim, made in legal papers filed at a US court, will cause further embarrassment to the Duke of York.

A legal battle could mean him being forced to give evidence about his private life in a US civil court, putting enormous strain on him, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie.

Following his arrest in 2008, Epstein, 53, was jailed for 18 months on two charges of soliciting a minor for sex but served only 13 months.

Unusually, the case was not heard at federal court level.

Lawyers representing four women have filed a motion to a Florida court seeking documents which they believe will expose a secret deal he struck with prosecutors that meant he avoided a rape charge.

They say it could have resulted in a much longer sentence if found guilty.

Lawyers want documents “regarding Epstein’s lobbying efforts to persuade the government to give him a more favorable plea arrangement and/or non prosecution agreement, including efforts on his behalf by Prince Andrew and former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.”

The document adds: “Jane Doe 1 [a name used in US legal proceedings for people with anonymity] and Jane Doe 2 have alleged these materials are needed to prove their allegations that, after Epstein signed the non prosecution agreement, his performance was delayed while he used his significant social and political connections to lobby the Justice Department to obtain a more favorable plea deal.

“Jane Doe 3 has directly person knowledge of Epstein’s connections with some of these powerful people and thus how Epstein might have used them to secure favorable treatment.”

The Queen is very fond of Andrew and will not chastise him, but she will expect to see him soon to hear his views

An anonymous royal source

Buckingham Palace officials made clear that an earlier blanket denial of the sensational claims covered any suggestion he helped Epstein with his plea-bargaining.

Prince Andrew vehemently denies having sex with a 17-year-old at Ghislaine Maxwell’s flat in London, New York and the Virgin Islands.

The legal papers state that Jane Doe 3 was “made available for sex to politically connected and powerful people”.

Epstein is accused in the court papers of repeatedly abusing the woman, now said to be in her 30s, on his private jet and luxury homes in New York, New Mexico, Florida and the US Virgin Islands.

The court document alleges: “Epstein also sexually trafficked the then-minor Jane Doe making her available for sex to politically-connected and financially-powerful people.

"Epstein’s purposes in ‘lending’ Jane Doe (along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information.”

If he has to give evidence in a Florida court, he could face the humiliation of being questioned by US lawyers over allegations that he had sex with a teenage girl at an orgy.

He would face the embarrassment of being asked intimate questions about alleged time he spent with the girl, then aged 17, and his convicted paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawyers for Jane Doe 3 are preparing to ask Andrew to make a deposition statement as part of their case against the US government.

“We want to hear from Andrew and see what he has to say,” said a legal source connected to the case.

JAE DONNELLY

Epstein after being freed from jail with Andrew in New York

Yesterday Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who is also named in the court papers, said the claims against him were part of a pattern of “made-up stories” by the woman and her lawyers.

Prof Dershowitz, who represented Epstein in the 2008 case told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “My only feeling is, if she’s lied about me, which I know to an absolute certainty she has, she should not be believed about anyone else.

“We know she’s lied about other public figures including a former prime minister and others who she claims to have participated in sexual activities with, so I think it must be presumed all her allegations against Prince Andrew were false as well.”

“The story is totally made up.

"I don’t know this woman, It is part of a pattern of made-up stories against prominent people and world leaders.

“I will prove beyond any doubt not only that the story is totally false but it was knowingly false, that the lawyers and the client conspired together to create a false story.

"That is why I am moving for their disbarment.

“I will swear under oath, and I challenge them to swear under oath, that it did not happen.”

In a statement released through her lawyers to a newspaper the woman hit back, saying: “These types of aggressive attacks on me are exactly the reason why sexual abuse victims typically remain silent and the reason why I did for a long time.

"That trend should change.

"I’m not going to be bullied back into silence.”

The married mother of three is believed to be living in California.

Prof Dershowitz acknowledged he had met Andrew on a number of occasions where Epstein was present.

He added: “I have never been alone with Prince Andrew, I have never been at a party with any women with Prince Andrew and I am certainly not a witness or participant in any sexual activities whatsoever.”

Andrew was photographed with Epstein in New York two years after the American’s release from prison in 2009, and their friendship was a source of controversy.